Traditionally summer schools were something that your parents would have to spend hundreds of pounds to send you to. They shipped you off for a big portion of the summer to places that would usually offer music or sports tuition. This would usually be in a rather decaying country house with cold showers whose best offering was the breakfast the cook would put on.

Forget all of these preconceptions and enter into the world of a Kent Adult Education summer school. Designed to give you an in-depth intensive look at a particular skill area you will be surrounded by people who share your passion. We’d like to think in an architecturally beautiful building and with a nice latte in hand too. Plus no packing is required – yes we let you leave in the evenings too!

We offer a wide range of summer schools through all of our arts, craft and language provisions that can help you escape reality for a week of enjoying your passion.

Tunbridge Wells Sculpture Summer School

Let me introduce our Tunbridge Wells sculpture summer school class; Nick, Sarah, Rosemary, Corinna, Shirley, Claire, Marit, Elizabeth, Jane, Oyvind and Islay. The week explored the skills and techniques of traditional sculpture based on using a life model to create a final piece. With a mother-daughter team and husband and wife combo the course was an array of ages, experience levels and personalities topped off with Jennie our passionate, creative and vibrant tutor.

“Our summer schools offer the option to escape and indulge by learning a new skill in an intense short burst.”

Marit and husband Oyvind travelled all the way from Norway to take part in this summer school and were thrilled that they took part – Marit had this to say about her time on the course. “I enrolled on the course to experience sculpturing in another cultural setting than a Norwegian context. What I enjoyed about the course, was in particular the good atmosphere and clear guidelines for doing and learning. Everyone received thorough instructions by Jennie who followed up everyone individually according to our level and ambitions. What I learnt especially was to be more confident with clay as a material, to realise its potential with a conscious use of the various tools. It was also of great value to see and discuss classmate’s pieces. Every day was engaging, I was quite absorbed in the work.”

Another student, Nick who when I met him was focusing particularly on the sculpting of a hand said this about his experience of the summer school, “I joined the sculpture summer school in conjunction with the Life Drawing and Painting summer school to fully appreciate the joys and difficulties of capturing the human figure in 2D and 3D media. Jennie our tutor is highly skilled and practical in both her abilities as an artist and her teaching of how to look and understand human anatomy. The course really developed my ability to see what I was looking at with greater understanding as well as improve my skills and approach to life art in general”.

Our summer schools offer the option to escape and indulge by learning a new skill in an intense short burst which really does ignite a passion within the students. But, we have to admit to something here – all of our courses do. You may have to wait until next summer for our next set of summer schools but there are 4,000 courses waiting for you to explore before then.